Show Village Spotlights Design, Product Innovations

If you’re heading to the International Builders’ Show in February, be sure to make some time in your schedule to visit Show Village. Now in its 31st year, Show Village offers ideas and solutions to help you solve problems and improve your business practices. You need only walk outside the Central Hall to the Silver Lot, where four new models await by leading manufacturers Cavco and Champion Homes. In addition, there will be product demonstrations by multiple vendors, and block parties each night to help you wind down.

Meeting challenges head on

According to Rich Binsacca, editorial director of Pro Builder and Custom Builder magazines, the biggest barrier for off-site builders nowadays is the misperception that offsite construction, in any form and at scale, is more expensive than stick-built housing.

“Builders also run into roadblocks from local officials who do not understand or know how to evaluate off-site systems — especially modular — for code compliance; lack of local capacity or production to serve demand at scale; and resistance from trades who see offsite systems as a threat to their livelihood,” says Binsacca.

The homes built for Show Village prove the concept that modular and HUD-code homes can be built efficiently at scale and to a high level of construction quality, indoor comfort and health, and marketability, he says: “Those homes and others like them are the key to closing the housing-supply gap and providing attainable/affordable homes to any market.”

Market-friendly design

The Bungalow The Skye View

Two of the homes being displayed at Show Village are being built by Cavco Industries, Phoenix, Ariz., while the other two are by the Genesis division of Skyline Champion Corp., Troy, Mich. All four homes are manufactured to the national HUD code.

Cavco is displaying the Skye View (550 sq ft), an L-shaped, two-section home divided into two pods, and the Bungalow (480 sq ft), which has a lot of outdoor space including a rooftop observation deck and two porches. Each home includes up-to-date features that buyers really want, says Tim Gage, Cavco’s national vice president of Park Models, Cabins, and Specialty Products.

“They’re smaller-footprint homes that a single person, perhaps a teacher or a nurse, can afford,” says Gage. Features include Smart Home technology with AI; with desirable amenities, such as Smart Home technology with AI and whole-house audio-video; tiled bathrooms; and upgraded countertops.

The Skye View is intended for the accessory unit (ADU) market and consists of two pods: living room/kitchen and bedroom/bath. The exterior has a rustic contemporary vibe, which Gage describes as a combination of Jackson, Wyo., Aspen, Colo., and Scottsdale, Ariz. An observation deck above the living room/kitchen pod is accessible from the front porch.

The Bungalow, Gage says, skews more to the client who wants to build a small home on a piece of land they own. The home has a Malibu beach-type look. Like the Skye View, the Bungalow has a lot of outdoor space including a rooftop observation deck, a full wraparound porch on the front, and a porch on the rear. One of its coolest features, he says, is a mini loft that can be used as a sleeping area or a hangout for the kids.

The Altitude The Duplex

The Genesis homes are the Altitude, a single-family home, and a multifamily duplex model. The Altitude is 1,525 square feet with three bedrooms, two baths, and a single-car garage, offering plentiful living space in a small footprint. Notable design features include a modern reverse roof angle on the exterior and accent beams in the living room.

“Buyers will love the front porch, separate laundry room, and an office area off the dining room that has an optional desk, deep drawers, and an accent wall,” says Mike Tweden, vice president of sales and business development in Champion’s Austin, Texas, office.

Each duplex unit is 800 square feet with two bedrooms and two baths. Two kitchen configurations are offered: one with bar seating off the extended countertop and the other with a raised bar-top eating area. Both layouts have room for a dining table. “The affordability factor for [the duplex] is huge,” Tweden says.

ProTradeCraft demo

IBS attendees will witness demonstrations of real-world, how-to construction best practices courtesy of the technical journal ProTradeCraft (PTC). Practices range from proper window flashing and siding installations to installing and sealing a shower.

PTC editor Dan Morrison notes that there is a gap between manufacturers, who feel that some people don’t install their products correctly, and installers who think manufacturers make it impossible to do so. PTC tries to bridge that gap.

“This is especially relevant with the dearth of skilled labor in the construction world, so again, we try to teach people best practices for installing products so that the houses will last,” Morrison says.

Parties and products

Block parties will be held both nights of the show, offering opportunities to network with Cavco and Champion representatives as well as contractors, vendors and suppliers.

Products for the 2025 Show Village are being provided by:

AGS Stainless (stainless steel railing systems)

All Weather (custom aluminum windows and doors)

Bedrock Wireless (cameras for construction sites) Bosch (kitchen appliances, HVAC equipment) eci BuildTools (project management software)

ChamClad (exterior and interior cladding, soffit panels and column and beam wraps)

Tyvek (building wrap)

Everlast (composite siding)

LP SmartSide (trim and siding)

Mitsubishi Electric (HVAC equipment)

Mohawk (flooring)

Nichiha (fiber cement siding)

Nisus (pest management and wood preservative products)